Sins of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

rebelliousness, not embraced it.
    She took a step into the room. Her dark eyes were piercing as they searched him for some weakness.
    Good luck, ma petite. I haven’t any.
    â€œSo, what’s your story?” she asked. “You say you’re Ash’s Squire. Are you a Blue Blood, Blood Rites, or what?”
    Alexion bit back a smile at her question. Blue Bloods were Squires who came from long generations of Squires. Blood Rites were the Squires who were charged with assuring that the rules of their world were followed. They protected the Dark-Hunters and were a police force for other Squires. Of course, he had been serving Acheron since before the Squires’ Council had existed. He wasn’t a true Squire. He was Acheron’s Alexion, an Atlantean term that had no real translation into English.
    Basically, he would do whatever was necessary to protect Acheron and Simi. And he truly meant “whatever.”
    He had no conscience. No morals. In his world, the only right was Acheron’s will. It governed everything about him. Yes, he could and did argue with Acheron at times, but at the end of it all, he was Acheron’s protector. He would always do what was in Acheron’s best interest no matter the personal or physical cost to himself.
    Yet he couldn’t tell her the truth of his status. Only he, Simi, Artemis, and Acheron would ever know of his real relationship to the boss.
    â€œI’m a barnacle chip,” he answered in Squire slang, meaning that Acheron had recruited him to be his Squire. In a way, it was almost true.
    â€œHow long have you served him?”
    He gave a short laugh at that. “It seems like forever most days.”
    Her dark eyes flashed suspicion and intelligence at him. She was far too bright for her own good. And far too sexy for his.
    She still wasn’t through interrogating him as she moved closer to him … so close he could now smell her. Her sweet scent permeated his head and created images of her naked and pliant in his bed.
    â€œHow is it that you did that little trick with the dagger where you reappeared after I stabbed you?”
    One side of his mouth quirked up at her question and he leaned even closer so that he could smell the fragrance of her hair and skin. It went through him like a warm whiskey, shocking and invigorating.
    It made his blood hot, his cock hard.
    â€œAsk me what’s really on your mind, Danger,” he said, his voice deepened by his lust. “I don’t like to play games. We both know that I’m not human so let’s not do the polite song and dance while you tiptoe around me trying to figure me out.”
    Danger seemed to appreciate his frankness even as she shivered at his nearness. She looked up at him from under her lashes. That look made him feel things that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He actually cared that she was confused and uncertain. He wanted to soothe her and that was beyond shocking to him.
    â€œAre you here to spy for Acheron?”
    He laughed at the very thought. “No. Trust me, he doesn’t need anyone to spy for him. If he wants to know something, he does.”
    â€œHow so?”
    It took all of his willpower not to reach out and touch her cheek to see if it was as soft as it appeared. Her skin was flawless and tempting. No doubt it would be even softer against his tongue …
    â€œI meant what I said, Danger. Acheron is able to find things out on his own. Spying is the last thing he needs me for.”
    Danger was getting extremely irritated by her attraction to this man and his own inability to answer her questions. She wasn’t sure if she should kiss him or kick him.
    The heat of his look was searing. Unnerving. It was so intense that she could almost feel his hands on her.
    She had the most inexplicable desire to nuzzle him. Breathless, she decided to use his own hunger against him. She stood up on her tiptoes and moved so close to him that their